The Greater Part of Valor
by Fruit bat99
Summary: "Prove it." Trapped in the school with his peers, unable to go ghost and slowly attracting the attention of the GiW, Danny finds he might have to rely on Phantom's biggest fans if he wants to save the town... and himself. Reveal fic. Sprinklings of DxS.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note**

Hi! So this was a sort of challenge from a good friend, Ruby 1334. Basically, I have trouble writing short stories so she gave me a one shot idea... (which I have still managed to turn into a two shot... yeah I failed ^.^)... Anywho, so the basic plot idea here was her's, not mine, though I have adapted certain parts :D.

I'm not completely happy with the flow and pace of this first chapter but I really wanted to publish it today because it's Ruby's birthday! So happy birthday sweetie!

I might go back and edit it at some point... but for now, enjoy!

_Disclaimer: __I don't own Danny Phantom. All rights belong to Butch Hartman. _

* * *

Shouting his signature battle cry, Danny rounded the corner into the rest room cubicle as he let the two familiar rings embrace him. Arms outstretched with his hands balled into fists, the bright rings started to travel up and down his frame.

"Ahhhh!" Danny cried in agony the second he became fully Phantom. Immediately dropping to the floor, he writhed on his side desperately trying to eliminate the thousands of needles that he felt had been stabbed mercilessly into his body. Every inch of his being was flooded with an unbearable pain as he clutched his hand tightly to his head before he finally passed out under the excruciatingly immense torture.

* * *

"Wait! Tucker, where's Danny?!" Sam rounded on her bespectacled friend, pulling him out of the throng of students currently running haphazardly towards the cafeteria.

"I... Er..." Tucker stumbled as he vigorously rubbed his shoulder where Sam's nails had dug in.

"Tucker!"

"Ow! Stop shaking me!" Blinking twice, the world came back into focus as the gothic girl let go of him. "Um, I have no idea! His ghost sense went of earlier but he never came back! He's probably fighting the ghost! Hey Sam! Wait!" Seeing the girl run off in the opposite direction, Tucker started to fight his way through the wall of students behind her. Seriously, he'd rather take on a fully grown behemoth ghost any day over stampeding students. "Sam! Where are you go-OW! Hey what gives?!"

"Yes Miss Manson. Where are you going?"

Tucker looked up from behind his friend, rubbing his nose after colliding with her back to see their balding and slightly overweight English teacher blocking their route.

"I... um..." Sam struggled for an explanation.

"Need I remind you that this school is currently under attack and you'd do well to follow your fellow classmates in an ORDERLY fashion to the cafeteria."

"Er... catch us if you can?" With this, Sam grabbed her slightly less athletic friend and darted round the corner before pulling him with her into the first door she saw.

Both Sam and Tucker caught their breaths as they collapsed on the floor against the door after seeing the teacher run in the opposite direction.

Opening her eyes, Sam flushed a furious red at realising exactly which room she'd ended up in. "They boy's toilets?! Seriously?! Oh man, it stinks!" Disgusted, she pinched her nostrils shut as she attempted and failed to waft away the smell.

"What?" Tucker inhaled deeply before shrugging and continuing. "Smells fine to me."

Sam narrowed her eyes, repulsed at her friend who clearly had either no sense of smell or had no sense of personal hygiene and cleanliness. In her mind, it was most likely the latter.

"You know, Mr Lancer is going to kill us for -"

"Uhh..."

Both teens whipped their heads towards the direction of the moan. Indicating to her male friend to be quiet, Sam carefully got up from where she was crouched and tiptoed over to the farthest cubicle.

"Danny!"

There, in front of her, was her best friend and secret crush splayed out on the tiled floor who, honestly, couldn't have looked less glamorous if he had tried. The boy's head was cheek down on the floor just under the toilet bowl whilst his two legs were bent up against the cubicle divider, both in different directions.

Images of his Dad fluttered through Tucker's mind as he remembered once seeing him in a very similar position after a night out...

"Danny?" Sam gently shook her friend in an attempt to wake him whilst Tucker pretended not to notice the tender way in which she sat him up.

"DANNY!" Tucker shouted though immediately piped down after receiving a death glare from Sam which was usually reserved for Paulina or Valerie. "What?" Tucker asked awkwardly. "It worked," he pointed out, indicating Danny whose eyes were slowly fluttering open.

"Danny!" Sam threw herself into the boy's arms though immediately realising what she'd just done, released herself, her cheeks a furious beetroot. "Sorry."

Danny meekly smiled whilst rubbing the back of his pounding head. "Urg, what happened?"

"Don't ask us dude. We just found you blacked out on the toilet floor."

Danny glanced up at his surroundings, suddenly realising something. "Hey, Sam? What're you doing in the boy's toilets?"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Escaping from Mr 'I shout the title of famous books whenever I'm angry.'" She enlightened, making quote marks causing all three to laugh.

"Why were you..." Danny started to stand up though lost his balance and fell backwards into Tucker who failed to catch him leaving him to fall with a thump onto his backside. "Oft."

If looks could kill, Tucker would have been dead ten times over with the glare Sam was giving him. "You okay?" She asked as she supported him in his second attempt to get up.

"Yeah, just a bit dizzy. Why were you running from Mr Lancer?"

"Dude, you must have hit your head hard. Ghost attack? Remember? The reason you left class earlier before deciding to take a nap on the toilet floor?"

"I WAS NOT NAPPING!" Danny shouted, momentarily angered by his friend's jest though it quickly melted away as he remembered why his friends actually found him in his compromised position. "I was... I couldn't go ghost."

"What, why not?"

"I don't know. I just remember it being extremely painful and then nothing. The next thing I knew, you two were here."

Tucker and Sam exchanged a worried glance. "Has this ever happened before?"

"No, I don't think so."

All three looked towards the floor consumed within their own thoughts, lasting all but three seconds before the door burst open, startling them into attack formation.

"Valerie!" The trio gasped in surprise, one with worry, one with anger and one with longing. They looked each other up and down, the awkward silence lasting slightly too long.

The girl narrowly avoided colliding with the three teens as she hastily skidded to a halt in front of them. Her bright eyes widened as she looked between the trio and the cubicle nearest the window. Eventually she scraped her curly locks out of her eyes and slowed her heavy breathing. When she looked up again, she finally caught the positions the other three had got themselves into.

"Umm... why do you guys look like you're ready to attack me?"

Danny, Sam and Tucker looked at each, eyes widening. It was Danny who dropped his stance first and made his way over to the huntress. "Hey Val, what're you doing here?"

Now it was Valerie's turn to be caught of guard. She couldn't exactly answer his question. That might lead to a few too many questions that she didn't really want to answer. Instead, she went for the 'lie through your teeth and pray you get away with it' approach. "I was err... looking for somewhere to hide?"

Three pairs of sceptical brows raised at the girl's response but they quickly let it go, knowing better than to get on Valerie's bad side. Danny knew first hand how much damage she could do, especially to his ghost half.

"Uh, maybe you three should go to the cafeteria, the teachers are worried sick about where you three are. Mr Lancer is practically having a heart attack, saying it was his fault or something that you guys are missing?" Placing a hand on her curvy hip, Valerie tilted her head in a questioning manner.

Tucker and Sam looked sheepish whilst Danny just looked outright confused.

Sighing dramatically, Valerie opened the door, gesturing for the three to go. "Well? Go on then."

"Shouldn't you be coming too?" Sam asked, suspicion oozing through her tones.

"I need to use the toilet." She responded flatly.

"In the boy's room?"

Valerie narrowed her eyes at the girl in front of her. Why couldn't they just go?! "Can't be picky in a ghost attack."

The two girls stared daggers at each other. The razor sharp silence stretched with none of the parties willing to stick a knife into it... That is until Danny looked at Sam and saw the glare she was giving. It was generally the glare she gave someone she was about to strangle, having found out first hand.

"Hey, uh, Sam. Maybe we should go. There is a ghost attack after all." Danny raised his eyebrows, pleading for Sam to get the hidden meaning behind his words.

Fortunately, she did rather quickly and hesitantly dropped her aggressive position. With a nod, she left followed by Danny and Tucker who both smiled their apologies at Valerie before leaving.

Valerie breathed a sigh of relief upon finally seeing them leave and made her way towards the end cubicle, inside of which sat a pulsating sphere. She studied it for a second before kneeling next to it and, checking that no one was there, tapping a pattern furiously onto the side. The reaction was instant. The sphere hummed into life and starting emitting green light rays throughout the immediate area.

She smiled, pleased. "Thanks Vlad." She said to herself, drawing out the a. "Let's see any ghosts get into this school now."

* * *

"I can't believe this..." Danny mumbled to himself. He glanced behind him and scowled at the GiW agent, which the man fortunately didn't notice. When the trio left the toilets, they had bolted straight towards the fire exit... only to find out that it was guarded with a gaggle of sharply dressed operatives. So now, Danny, Sam and Tucker reluctantly found themselves being marched towards the cafeteria with no way to escape now Danny didn't have access to his ghost powers.

When they got there, it was close to mayhem. There were students everywhere, some running around demanding answers, others screaming that Danny Phantom would save them whilst some were hugging their legs under the various tables. All the while the teachers tried and failed to count everyone.

Danny bit his lip looking around at the carnage. He hated this. He shouldn't be human amongst his classmates hiding in a cafeteria when there was some sort of ghost attacking the town! He should be out there, fighting as Danny Phantom! Especially if it was a dangerous ghost which looked most probable judging by the amount of fear on the teacher's faces.

Glancing around, he spotted a few Guy-in-White agents hovering in various spaces throughout the room. Seriously, why couldn't they just stand like normal people? Oh this was so not good. How was he supposed to get out and go ghost now with so many people around?! That is if he could go ghost... he suddenly shivered at the amount of pain that action had caused him not long ago.

They looked at each other, worry evident in their faces before being rudely shunted out the way by a GIW agent. "Hey wha-"

Tucker was cut off as the man bolted the door shut, making more noise than necessary as he slid the three metal bars into place. Danny had to suppress a giggle. Honestly, if the ghosts wanted to come in they would just go intan-

As if to break the boy's thought process, the man put down what looked to be a rather heavy piece of equipment and pressed an ominous looking red button. Instantly, the room hummed with power as it lit a dull green. Looking around, Danny realised he had just activated a ghost shield around the room. Well this day just kept getting better and better.

Immediately the room silenced with the shield's activation, both students and staff looking awed at the equipment whilst the trio just looked peeved.

A booming voice belonging to one of the sharply dressed operatives sliced through the silence. "Ghost shield to keep the ghosts out. Bolted down doors to keep the humans in. No questions."

Worried students looked at each other before erupting into panic once again.

"Jeez, you'd think they'd be used to ghost attacks living in Amity and all." Tucker stated whilst covering his ears in an attempt to block out the noise.

Danny frowned and he looked around for any possible way out but found none. Not whilst there was a ghost shield up... not that he could exactly go ghost anyway. He flinched as a hand settled on his forearm though relaxed when he saw whose it was.

"Let's see if we can find anywhere a little less cramped to talk. Then we can figure out what to do."

Danny looked towards Sam and nodded his approval before all three attempted to shuffle towards a corner of the cafeteria. A few elbows in rib cages and knees in backs later they finally found a little bit of floor space just under one of the windows and far enough away from the GIW and the various teachers.

"Now what?"

The three looked at each other, none having an answer to Tucker's question.

"I've got to get out of here..." Danny groaned as he slouched forwards into his lap.

"And we'll get you out of here little brother."

Danny suddenly lurched forwards and into Sam's lap at hearing the abrupt arrival of a new voice right behind him. Turning around and seeing who had startled him, he glared at the offender, about to explode before Tucker spoke.

"Whoa, you know Danny, aren't you the one who's supposed to be doing the scaring being half ghost and all?" He sniggered, whispering the last part. "Ow!" He yelped at receiving a smack from both Danny and Sam.

"Serves you right." Sam said.

Danny nodded in agreement, though at looking upwards at Sam, he suddenly realised he was still sprawled in her lap. Almost too quickly he, albeit reluctantly, removed himself and started rubbing his back awkwardly. Neither Sam or Danny noticed Jazz's and Tucker's knowing glance. They were too preoccupied trying to look anywhere but at the other.

"Hey, looks like Valerie got caught too." Sam suddenly perked up, grateful for the distraction as she saw the GiW agents unbolt the doors to let her in. Sam smiled when she saw Nathan, one of the school's resident nerds, immediately cling onto her though this quickly turned into a scowl as Valerie caught Danny's gaze and gave him a friendly wave... and she had the quell the urge to growl when Danny waved back. And when she started to come over, it took Tucker's little strength to hold her back from attacking.

"Hey guys."

"Hey Val... Nathan" Tucker said, in front of a seething Sam. "So... you er... got here then?"

Valerie smiled at the techno-geek, indicating yes before turning her attention to Danny. "You okay, Danny?"

"Sure, just distracted, you know? Ghost attack and all."

Danny jolted when the girl took his hand in hers. "We'll be fine. We're perfectly safe in here."

"Ho- How can you be so sure Valerie?" Nathan stuttered whilst clinging to the girl's arm.

Valerie rolled her eyes and looked at the source of the squeaky voice, as she tried to shake it off. Why, out of the whole school, did Nathan have to pick her to crush on? Eventually, after realising Nathan wasn't content with no answer, she gave in and lowered her voice so that it was just loud enough for the trio, Jazz and Nathan to hear. "Because I heard the red huntress has these devices around the school that'll kill off any ectoplasmic cells that are either near them or when they're activated... they connect and create a bubble, inside which no ghost can exist."

Nathan stared wide-eyed, Sam looked like she was going to punch the girl, Tucker looked worried, Jazz studied Valerie, intrigued, whilst Danny almost looked betrayed, shocked, intrigued, worried and angry all at the same time.

Realising she'd said a little too much, Valerie back tracked. "I.. I mean that's what I heard from a friend... of a friend."

Still, the terrified nerd clung to her. "Bu- but what about Phantom? How'll he get in?"

Valerie narrowed her eyes at the mention of that ghost but restrained herself from calling 'it' every curse word that happened to enter her mind at this moment. Instead she went for a simple, "it won't."

Nathan nodded, reluctantly accepting her answer.

Luckily, Valerie didn't notice Danny's hurt expression when she called Phantom an 'it.' She was still too busy trying to shake the geek.

"Why'd Phantom want to get in here anyway? He should already be out there fighting the ghost." Jazz piped in.

Danny looked shocked at Jazz's accusatory tone though he quickly relaxed when he read his sister's underlying meaning of 'we need to think of a plan to get you out of here.'

"Please. That ghost only puts us in more danger."

"Oh yeah?"Sam intervened "Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't it Phantom who saved us from Pariah Dark and his skeletal army?!"

"Yeah. After him and that other ghost probably lured him here in the first place!"

"He so did not! That was all Plasmius!"

"Honestly? They were probably working together."

"You don't know anything!"

"I know tha-"

"GUYS!" Danny shouted above the two arguing girls as he rubbed his head.

"Sorry Danny. I just forget that some people are so single minded." Sam backed off to comfort her friend.

"Me?! Yo-"

"GUYS!" Danny shouted again, sensing another argument. "Enough, please?"

Both girls hesitantly took a deep breath for the sake of the boy in front of them who they suddenly noticed had started to sway. Their eyes widened.

"Danny...?" Sam questioned.

Danny looked up when he felt a hand steady him on his left, and frowned, puzzled. "What?"

"You sorta started swaying there." Tucker raised an eyebrow, attempting to hide his concern. It was so not cool to show it.

Danny shrugged. "I'm fine."

"You sure?" Valerie asked before Sam could get a word in, this time.

The boy was about to nod when he suddenly started feeling dizzy. He clenched his eyes and swallowed softly, forcing back the nausea before looking back up. "Yeah. Just feel tired. I didn't get much sleep last night."

Sam winced in sympathy.

"Seriously, I'm fine Sam." Danny reassured, having caught Sam's expression.

"Okay." Sam reluctantly accepted.

Jazz meanwhile, was not content with Danny's answer. He'd been fine a second ago. Tiredness didn't just come on that suddenly. "Danny, can I talk to you for a second?"

Danny looked in confusion at his sister, though shrugged, gave the rest of the small group a smile and followed his sister to a corner of the cafeteria.

"What's wrong?"

The hybrid's eyebrows creased. "What do you mean?"

"Just a second ago, you were fine. Now you're not. Now spill." Jazz placed a hand on her hip, looking expectantly at her little brother.

Danny awkwardly rubbed his back as he recalled this incident that happened earlier that day... and the amount of pain it had caused him to go ghost. He shivered at the memory though knowing his sister was right, as always, and that this wasn't just normal tiredness, he started recounting the tale.

Jazz's eyes widened when he finished. "So Valerie caused this?"

Danny nodded. "I guess so with what she said... I just haven't..." He pressed a hand to his head as he felt another bout of tiredness hit him.

"Danny...?"

"Sorry... I..."

"Danny!"

The boy collapsed in front of her eyes.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Thoughts? Next chapter will be the reveal part so I'm looking forward to that :D.

Anyway, I hope it was okay Ruby! (And that it didn't differ *too* much to how you originally saw this fic planning out!)

Until next time!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N **Update time! Thank you all very much for your reviews! You are all awesome - virtual hugs all round! I am really enjoying writing this fic so I'm glad people are enjoying reading it :D. Also, thank you to anyone who's favourited, followed or are just reading it :D. It means a lot to me!

Once again, big thanks to **Ruby 1334 **for lending me her idea of Danny being stuck in the school and having to rely on Phantom's biggest fans to get out :D. She did however let my imagination run wild thinking of reasons why he'd be stuck in the school.. Plus I added the GiW just to put Danny in as much trouble as possible! It's not fun otherwise!

So yeah, I'm sure you're also making her very happy with your reviews too :D.

Enjoy!

_Disclaimer: __To own or not to own, that is the question. Yeah, okay. I don't own DP. _

* * *

The entirety of the student body along with a few teachers stood shocked at the scene that was unfolding before them. No sooner had Danny hit the floor than a few GiW agents had circled him, weapons drawn.

It didn't matter that most students couldn't see the unfortunate pupil who found themselves in the middle of the gaggle. Jazz's irate shouting gave away his identity straight away and it only got louder the further she was pulled away from the scene, along with Sam, Tucker and Valerie. Together, they were a formidable force but even they were no match for about fifteen Guy-in-White agents, especially without any weapons.

In the end, much to everyone's surprise, it was Mr Lancer that had managed to overcome the wall of white and position himself between the operatives and the student.

"Sir, we request that you move aside or we will be allowed, by law, to remove you by force."

"And under what laws would you be allowed to do that?" The teacher seethed, barely fazed.

After a few mutterings between the agents one, who was clearly the leader, stood forward. "Sir, you are putting yourself in a dangerous position. If you don't move, it is our duty to remove you from it. Step down, now."

Mr Lancer stood firm, his only movement, a narrowing of his eyes. "You and your agents are the only ones right now putting anyone in harm's way." He said flatly, indicating their oversized weapons. "Now perhaps you could do me the honour of telling me what else might be causing me harm right now."

The agents all looked at each other again, none willing to speak. It was only a very slight glance one of them gave in Danny's direction however, which made Mr Lancer widen his eyes. "You think my student is dangerous?" He asked, incredulous.

The leader of the men, turned towards the boy before looking back at the student. Angry that the overweight man was challenging their authority and that his hand was being forced, he cocked his weapon. "We have reason to believe that child is harbouring a ghost."

A collective gasp was heard from the students, smothering the scene. Even Mr Lancer had to suppress a gasp of surprise though he still remained between the student and the agents. "And what reason would you have to assume that?"

The Guy-in-White leader narrowed his eyes. His patience really was being tested but even he couldn't shoot an innocent man such as the teacher was... for the moment. For now, he'd have to humour him with answers. "Our advanced ghost technicians developed a ghost shield which would not only act as a ghost repellent but should any ghost find themselves inside it, it would be knocked out." He looked towards Danny, still out for the count. "Cold. A new... safety feature."

Sam, Tucker and Jazz bit their tongues to stop them from gasping and out right almost confirming the GiW's suspicions. Valerie, however, did notice the slight look of worry that ghosted their faces, though she decided not to say anything... for now.

The rest of the cafeteria erupted into mutters with the news. Could Danny be harbouring a ghost? Was the teen being overshadowed? Could wimpy Fenton actually be a ghost?! None had answers... except for, perhaps, the same teacher who had dared challenge the GiW's authority.

"That proves nothing gentlemen." He stated bravely, addressing the whole unit. "I can tell you that Danny Fenton is many things but a criminal, as you insinuate, he is not. This boy has simply fainted, most likely due to the stress of this whole situation or thanks to a lack of oxygen... this thanks to you people forcing an entire school into one space." There were increased mutterings with the man's statement.

"But-"

"But nothing." Mr Lancer bravely interrupted. Ignoring the glares he got, he continued. "If, as you say he is harbouring a ghost, then he will not wake up, correct?" A few agents reluctantly nodded, "So, if he has fainted, he will awake within a few minutes. Besides, if you do harm him now and he does turn out to have just fainted, I'm sure your superiors won't be very happy with you for shooting an innocent, will they?"

After hearing nothing from the agents Mr Lancer continued, "Now, I am going to take Mr Fenton into the kitchen area, where there is space for him to recover in peace. If you folks dare interrupt, guns-a-blazing I will take great pride in getting you fired."

The leader stepped forward, lowering his weapon slightly so as to allow him to put himself within inches of the teacher's face. "When your student doesn't wake up, I'm going to kill him myself." He hissed.

Mr Lancer narrowed his eyes but remained silent and stood his ground.

After the GiW had backed down, concerned students and teachers crowded the child, bombarding the brave teacher with praise and questions. Sam growled in frustration that she, once again, couldn't reach her friend.

"The Call of the Wild people! Calm down!" Mr Lancer shouted above the racket before scooping Danny into his arms, which earned a few surprised glances in itself – since when was Mr Lancer that strong?!

"Miss Fenton, Miss Manson and Mr Foley may follow. The rest of you, as you were."

Valerie went to protest but after Tucker assured her it would be okay, she reluctantly backed down. And so, the trio followed the teacher and Danny, into the kitchen area.

"Thanks for er..." Sam awkwardly smiled at her English teacher who recently, she had discovered a lot more respect for. "Well... you know. Thanks."

"Yeah, that was awesome dude!" Tucker praised his teacher as soon as they got far enough away from the GiW parasites.

Mr Lancer smiled back as he placed Danny down on one of the food preparation counters for lack of where else to lay him. "Thank you Mr Foley."

"Seriously! Since when were you that... brave?!"

Mr Lancer laughed. "Well I think there was a compliment in there somewhere."

"Totally!"

The teacher's eyes opened as Tucker attempted to high five him. As if realising exactly what he was doing, Tucker bit down on his bottom lip and started to bring his hand down though before he could, he was interrupted with another hand making contact with his own.

Teacher and student smiled at each other before Mr Lancer turned to leave.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Jazz started to protest before she could stop herself.

"Someone's got to keep an eye on those pesky agents." The man chuckled.

"Oh... Well thanks." Jazz said as she rubbed her back awkwardly.

Mr Lancer rolled his eyes at what was evidently starting to become a hereditary trait. "Let me know when he wakes."

"We will." Sam assured.

"Thanks again dude!" Tucker shouted just as the man walked out of the small kitchen area.

"You're welcome..." Mr Lancer said before he closed the door. Now on the other side, he let a mischievous smile creep onto his lips "...dude."

"Wow... who knew?" Sam raised a brow after her teacher's departure as she sat next to her still unconscious friend.

"What? Did you think he was born a 40 year old teacher with nothing better to do than mark tests and put students to sleep?" Jazz came to take her place beside her brother. "Everyone's got their secrets."

"Yeah, I bet he was like... a special agent or something." Tucker completed the triangle around their friend.

The two girls raised sceptical brows.

"What? Did you see the way he stood up to those goons?"

"I guess..." Jazz bit her lip. She was seriously going to keep a closer look on her English teacher after this. She couldn't help but be intrigued... and slightly scared at Tucker's theory.

A knock on the door distracted all three from their thoughts. Taking it upon herself, Jazz went to investigate who it was. The last thing she needed right now was for a Guy-in-White to come barging in. Then again... A GiW probably wouldn't knock. Peeking carefully through the window in the door, she bit her lip when she saw who it was.

"Valerie?"

Sam and Tucker's brows shot up as Jazz turned around, her eyes asking whether she should let the red huntress in. Her unheard question was answered with a series of frantic gestures of shaking heads and pretend neck slitting.

"_Hey. Can I come in? Is Danny okay?"_

"Yeah, he's fine!" Jazz answered quickly, her voice increasing several octaves. "Just um..." She looked towards the other two teens for help but both proved unhelpful, giving her useless shrugs. "He's... naked!"

Sam's and Tucker's eyebrows shot up, incredulous. Whilst Sam tried and failed to hide a blush, Tucker attempted to shut his currently open mouth which he was sure was on the floor.

"Yeah... he had a... um... fever! So... We tried to cool him down!"

"_Oh. By ta- taking his clothes um... off?" _The girl on the other side of the door stumbled over her words as she also tried to hide a blush.

"Sure!" Jazz confirmed. "Just, I don't think he'd like you to see him like this right now. Ya know?"

"_Isn't Sam in there?" _Valerie suddenly pointed out, failing to hide a slight tinge of jealousy in her voice.

Again, Sam went red from a combination of embarrassment and anger.

"She's... not looking." Jazz said, though even to herself her quick lie wasn't sounding very convincing. Fortunately though, it seemed to work well enough.

"_Okay... Well let me know when he gets better then."_

"Will do!" Jazz slouched at seeing the other girl back off from the door and turned around to see Sam and Tucker, still staring disbelieving stares. "What?"

"Naked? Seriously?" Tucker laughed slightly.

Jazz rubbed her back. "Well... you guys weren't any help. And I had to tell her something to make her go away! Until Danny wakes up we can't take any chances."

"If he wakes up..." Tucker glanced down at his still unconscious friend. "OW!"

"He will wake up!" Sam insisted after whacking her friend around the head.

Jazz glanced between Danny's two best friends. "Guys... do you remember what that Guy-in-White agent said?"

"Yeah." Tucker chimed in. "That the shield or whatever was upgraded to knock ghosts out."

"But Danny's only a half ghost." Sam pointed out.

"Yeah... Exactly. The shield didn't knock him out straight away, did it?"

Sam and Tucker shared a look before Jazz continued. "And do you remember what Valerie said?"

"You mean when she wasn't picturing Danny naked?" Tucker giggled though immediately shut up when he saw Sam giving him a death glare.

Jazz rolled her eyes. "She said her devices kill off any ectoplasmic cells near them... or they create a forcefield inside which no ghost can exist."

"So that would obviously explain why he couldn't go ghost."

"And why Valerie was in such a rush to the toilet... She probably had one of her devices in there."

"Which would also explain why Danny was out cold and was so weak when he woke up in there... If he was right next to one of her gadgets that is."

"But how does any of this help us?! Danny is still... out of it!" Sam gestured to her unconscious friend for emphasis.

"I'm getting to that part! If Valerie's devices or generator or whatever it is she calls it is killing off his ectoplasmic cells then surely the government's forcefield thing should have no effect on him soon? It couldn't knock him out if it's got no cells to target, right?"

Tucker came forward. "It would make sense I guess..."

"But we don't know if he can even live without his ghost half." Sam said, exasperated.

"He's been separated before hasn't he?"

"Yeah, when he went through the ghost catcher... but his ghost half was still alive!"

"What about the whole..." Jazz lowered her voice, "_Dan _thing?" She whispered as if it was a taboo subject. "His ghost half mu-"

"Yeah." Sam cut her off. "But they were already separated when that happened..."

"With his DNA still merged at the moment though... we don't know if..."

"Sounds like I should probably get out of here then."

"Danny!" Tucker, Sam and Jazz exclaimed at the same time at hearing his voice from behind them. They had been so caught up in their conversation, they hadn't even noticed Danny waking up.

Jazz scooped her brother up in a hug whilst Sam and Tucker stood by, smiling albeit a bit worriedly at their friend. "Are you okay?"

Danny rolled his eyes at his overbearing sister. Not that he minded her smothering. It was nice in a way. "Yeah, fine. Wha- What happened? I heard you say something about Valerie and the Guys-in-White but-"

"Danny..." Sam interrupted "While you were out... the GiW... The forcefield is a weapon Danny. They said it knocks a ghost out."

Danny frowned. "Great, then why am I awake now?"

"We're not sure but we think it has something to do with Valerie's gadgets. If they're killing your ghost half then... the less and less the GiW's forcefield is going to affect you we assumed." Tucker explained.

"My ghost half is... dying?!" Danny asked, incredulous. "Wha- Oh." He stopped in his realisation. "So that's why you were talking about whether I could survive without it."

All three teens nodded in answer.

"I really have got to get out of here then." Danny sighed.

This day was not going well. At all.

"_Miss Fenton?" _

Danny's eyebrows creased. "Is that Mr Lancer?"

The other three exchanged knowing expressions as if debating whether to tell Danny the drama from earlier or not. In the end, they settled with a, "Tell you later."

Jazz walked briskly to the door and opened it. "Hi Mr Lancer."

"Miss Fenton," Mr Lancer smiled warmly, "Sorry to bother you but the government agents were getting..." He broke off as he looked over towards the table where he had laid Danny previously and saw the boy upon it looking straight back at him. "Mr Fenton." He smiled. "Nice to see you're awake."

"Th- thanks." Danny stammered, still a bit confused as to why his English teacher was here... much less why his sister and friends immediately let him into the room without a second thought.

Mr Lancer nodded and turned his attention back to Jazz. "I suppose I'll go tell those pesky buzzards 'I told you so' then, as you kids would say."

The four teens cringed whilst the teacher frowned.

"I'll leave you four to it, what with Danny being awake makes my visit redundant really." Just as he was about to turn to leave, he glanced over in Danny's direction. "Oh and Mr Fenton. Might I advise you get more protein in your diet? You really are very light."

With that, the teacher took his leave, leaving behind three sniggering teens and one very confused Danny.

"What... was he talking about?"

Failing to hold his laugh, Tucker explained, "Mr Lancer... um... Well... He helped you make the journey between the middle of the hall and here while you were out cold."

Danny's eyebrows creased before shooting up as he realised his friends implications. "He what?!"

"I have to say Danny, you looked like a proper damsel draped in his arms!" Jazz started laughing along with Sam and Tucker.

Danny groaned. "If I ever get out of here, I'm never going to be able to look at Mr Lancer the same way again."

The laughter slowly subdued as the happy atmosphere in the small room dropped with Danny's initial comment.

"Danny...?" Sam placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "We are going to get you out of here." She reassured looking straight into his baby blues. "I don't care what it takes."

"Yeah dude. We got your back."

Danny smiled at his two friends, feeling genuinely lucky to have them, and his sister of course. He didn't know whether he would have made it this far without them otherwise.

"So." Jazz sat next to her brother, completely ignoring the moment. "We know that Valerie's gadgets must be..." She trailed off.

"Killing my ghost half." Danny completed. "It's fine, you can say it."

"Yeah. So, we need to get rid off them first."

Sam and Tucker nodded in agreement.

"But won't that just make the GiW's forcefield knock me out again?" Danny queried.

"Probably but I'd rather deal with an unconscious halfa than a..." Jazz stopped.

"A dead one." Danny completed again. "Seriously, it's fine."

"No... it's not. You're not dying today Danny."

"I never said I was." Danny smiled.

Sam coughed melodramatically, effectively breaking the awkward silence. "Anyway. How are we going to get rid off the devices?! We don't even know how they work!"

"Valerie does." Tucker said quickly, avoiding looking Sam in the eye.

"She'd be able to get rid off them." Jazz confirmed.

"But... why would she turn them off for us? She thinks she's protecting Danny!" Sam exclaimed, exasperated.

Danny swallowed. "Then... we'll just have to get her to help us some other way."

"How?"

"I dunno!" Danny flung his arms up. "Actually, how would she even be able to get to the devices to turn them off anyway?! Remember the 'bolted down doors to keep humans in.'?" He quoted in the agent's deep voice.

After a thick silence, Jazz approached her brother. "Well, it's simple then. Danny we can't get you out of here by ourselves."

Danny looked up at his sister, confused. Was she just giving in? Surely not.

"But with help..."

Danny's eyebrows arched. "Help? Fr- from who? The only people who know my secret are here... not counting Dani and Vlad. Not that either of them could do much good at the moment. Besides we don't know where Dani is and Vlad's probably plotting world domination somewhere and that's not taking into account-"

"DANNY!" All three teens shouted.

"Breathe dude."

Danny looked at his sister and friend's worried stares and realising he was worrying them, swallowed stiffly. "S- sorry."

"Look. I didn't mean help from Dani or Vlad, Danny."

"Then who?" Danny asked, clueless.

Jazz bit her lip. "Danny, you're not going to like what I'm about to say."

"No offence Jazz, but we're not even sure if we're going to like it." Tucker pointed out.

"Danny, can I talk to you alone?"

Danny looked at his two friends who shrugged, before looking back at his sister. "Okay..." He said, voice laced with uncertainty, remembering what happened the last time his sister asked to talk to him alone. Yes. It was a completely irrational fear and a complete coincidence but still. He wasn't exactly thinking straight right now.

Jazz smiled and looked towards Sam and Tucker expectantly. Quickly getting the hint, albeit reluctantly, they scuttled out of the room, ready to face a bombardment of questions from Valerie, Mr Lancer and no doubt, the GiW.

Danny rubbed his back following their departure. "So...why did you want to talk to me alone?"

"Because... Well as your sister, it's my responsibility to look out for you, no matter what, right?"

Danny's eyebrows creased. "I don't get wha-"

"Just listen. I've had this speech prepared since I found out about your secret."

The hybrid rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically. "Better not interrupt then."

"Good." Jazz said, triumphantly. "Now I swore I would protect your secret but I also swore something else to you the day I saw you transform... I swore to protect _you _Danny. You. No matter what the cost. Even if I had to break my other promise to do it."

"Jazz I..."

"So now I've told you that... You have to understand why I'm saying this. We need to get you out of here Danny otherwise you... You could..." She swallowed stiffly as she attempted to force the words out. It turned out she didn't need to. A reassuring smile from her brother told her that he knew what she wanted to say anyway. "As much as I hate to say it Danny, we... we can't get you out of here by ourselves... Not with the GiW watching our every move! Even if Tucker could override something, he would get caught doing it! And you can't go ghost to help him out with a bit of invisibility..."

"Jazz, what's your point in all this?!" The still oblivious boy asked.

"We need more people. They can't watch everyone..." With this, Jazz rose from her position next to her brother and made her way towards the small window in the door.

Puzzled, Danny followed, looking towards where Jazz was gazing. His eyes suddenly widened as his own gaze landed on the A listers who were currently tossing a football between themselves. Evidently, the teachers had given up on the 'no ball games inside' rule.

All too soon his older sister's implications hit him like a tonne of bricks."Wha- What? They... But... No way!" Danny looked back at the girl and at seeing her raise an eyebrow, re-enforced, "No way!"

Jazz sighed. "Look Danny, I know it's not exactly the most ideal plan but..."

"Ideal?! I'm NOT asking them for help!"

"Even if it means everyone in Amity could be killed if you don't?" Jazz took a breath before forcing her brother to look at him. "Including Mum and Dad?"

"But..." Danny struggled, Jazz's argument hitting a nerve. Eventually Danny sighed, defeated. "But... how do we know they'd help anyway?"

"They'd help Danny Phantom."

Danny froze. "No... not that."

"Danny..."

"No!" Danny almost screamed before backing away from his sister and crashing straight into a work surface. After brushing himself off, he straightened. "Please... Jazz... You must have another idea in that big brain of yours." Danny half smiled though it quickly fell at seeing Jazz shake her head.

"Not this time, little brother. Besides it might not even come down to the whole Fenton/Phantom thing!"

"Bu- But it might! I can't take that chance!"

"Danny, please..."

"Jazz, you don't understand! I've kept this secret for a year now for good reasons! If people found out... I... I'd be put in some sort of testing lab! Not to mention Mum and Dad would try and tear me apart molecule by mol-"

He was abruptly cut off at feeling his sister's long arms wrap around him and envelop him in a warm embrace.

Rubbing his back soothingly, just like she used to do when Danny came into her room as a child complaining of a nightmare, she whispered, "I won't let anything bad happen to you, Danny. I promise."

Danny pulled back and looked straight into his sister's shimmering eyes. He found himself thinking about a certain promise he'd made to her and the rest of his loved ones. If anything, he knew from experience how strong a promise can be. He'd never break it and he would bet his life that Jazz wouldn't break hers.

He nodded several times, still trying to convince himself this was the only way but he knew deep down it was. Jazz wouldn't dare suggest it if there was another way.

He mouthed his 'okay,' making Jazz smile half heartedly back at him.

Again, thinking about everything that had happened since he'd woken up, he came upon the same conclusion as he had earlier that day. Half life sucked.

* * *

**A/N**

*Looks back at other chapter* _"Next chapter will be the reveal part..." _I'm a liar. I had planned this chapter to be the reveal part but it got too long, so I split it :D. Please forgive me!

Ooooh! And hands in the air if you love a badass Mr Lancer! *Tumbleweed.* Okay. Well _I_ LOVE it when Mr Lancer gets a backbone and he gets to be something outside of stereotyped boring English teacher so yeah... Sorry if anyone thought he was slightly OOC but personally, I don't think Butch delved into his character that much... Like we know he's a little boring but cares in his own weird way so I just exploited this last bit and gave him a backbone :D. Creative license anyone?!

Anyway! Thanks for reading! See you on the next chapter :D.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note**

Hello everyone! First, I would like to apologise for taking two months to update... I won't bombard you with the boring details of my life but it's just been a VERY busy couple of months which has left me with very little free time to write.

Plus this chapter has been the bane of my life recently... It just didn't want to be written. So I'm glad I can finally chuck it on here and hopefully not look back...

Once again, thanks to all reviewers and readers! And huge thanks to Ruby for lending me the basic idea... I think I may have even thrown an unexpected curveball in here for you too though :P.

Enjoy!

* * *

Jazz and Danny had decided to tell Tucker and Sam about their plan separately before assigning each of them different A listers or nerds to recruit for their plan. So whilst Jazz spoke to Tucker before they went off to talk to Dash and Mikey respectively, Danny was currently letting Sam in on the plan before preparing to talk to Valerie.

"No! Danny, you can't!"

"I don't have a choice Sam! If I don't do something, everyone in Amity is going to die or be enslaved or something. Now, look me in the eyes and tell me. Is my secret worth that?"

"But..."

"Sam. Please..." Danny pleaded, looking into the girl's beautiful amethyst eyes.

"I just... I don't want to see you get hurt." Sam confessed as she looked downwards.

Danny took her chin in his palm as he made her look up back up at him. "I won't. I promise."

For a moment the two were completely at peace, swimming contently in each other's warm gaze before Sam broke off again.

Danny sighed. "I won't tell them unless I absolutely have to. Sam, I know above anyone else how precious my secret is but I won't keep it above someone else's life."

Sam laughed sadly. "You and your hero complex."

The half-ghost frowned. "My what?"

"Don't worry." She backtracked. "I.. I just meant you're always putting others above yourself. It's nice." She finished with a blush.

Danny scratched his back. "Oh, uh thanks." He said, also with a blush.

"Danny?"

The hybrid turned at hearing a very familiar voice from behind him. "Valerie? How'd you get in here?"

The girl frowned, a little hurt by both his question and the situation she'd stumbled on. "The door wasn't locked, you know. I'm not even sure if it has a lock. Anyway, I just wanted to see whether you were okay but obviously you are." She said, shooting a pointed look at Sam.

She turned to go, though to her surprise, she felt a hand wrap around her arm to stop her.

"Um, actually Valerie..." Danny swallowed, wanting to delay the inevitable for just a bit longer, "Well, I sort of need your help with something."

"My help?" She asked, curiosity now getting the better of her.

"Yeah..."

"Why me? Why not Sam or Tucker or even your sister?" She questioned defensively.

"Because..." Danny stumbled, trying to think of what to say that wouldn't expose either his secret or the fact that he knew hers. After a few beats, his eyes lightened as he remembered what she'd said earlier about her 'friend of a friend' knowing the Red Huntress. He smiled. Guess he'll be humouring that little lie. "You said your friend knows the Red Huntress, right?"

"Why?" Valerie immediately said, now a little freaked. Why in the world would Danny need to talk about her alter ego?

"I think I need her help. Do you think..."

"I... I... I don't know the Red Huntress." She stumbled and smiled enthusiastically but frowned at seeing Danny's unbelieving face. "At all." She re enforced. "Nada."

"Cut the crap Valerie. Danny really needs her help right now." Sam intervened, seeing Danny was having a difficult time with this.

"Why would he need her help?" Valerie rounded on the goth girl.

"He just does, al right!"

Valerie glared. "If you want me to try and contact her, you're going to have to give me a little more than that. She doesn't do social chats, so what in the world would you two need her help for?!"

Sam let out a distressed groan. "We can't tell you that!"

"Why not?!" Valerie demanded.

"Because you wouldn't understand!"

"How wouldn't I understand?!"

"You just wouldn't!"

"Valerie, please," Danny virtually pleaded, "If the Red Huntress doesn't help us, the whole town is in serious danger. Our parents could die, we could die! Don't tell me you're putting your faith in the government's lapdogs to get us out of this?"

Valerie raised her eyebrows with the faith Danny was apparently unaware that he was putting in her... and not Phantom, she noted. The thought alone that Danny thought she was a better ghost hunter than Phantom made her smile and almost willing to help. "Okay fine."

"Thanks Valerie."

At this, Valerie smiled and turned to leave, ready to 'contact' her alter ego. However, she wasn't about to forget the desperation in their eyes or the secrecy regarding exactly why Danny had 'fainted.' She was almost certain that wasn't due to a 'lack of oxygen' as Mr Lancer had said. And so help her, she was going to get to the bottom of whatever was going on here.

Danny and Sam exhaled a sigh of relief at seeing her leave. "Well, that went better than I thought."

Sam turned, sceptical.

"I just mean, she didn't attack me or anything."

"Yeah because she doesn't know about you. Do you honestly think she's just going to forgive you for everything and suddenly become your best friend if she finds out?"

"I..."

"I just... I want to look out for you."

"And I appreciate that."

Again, the two were lost with each other until another unwelcome interruption came barging through the door in the form of their techno geek friend.

"How'd it go with Valerie?!" He asked, effectively shattering the moment.

Danny and Sam coughed, trying to come back down to planet earth. "Um... Yeah. She said she'll help us."

Tucker nodded. "Okay, well Jazz is trying to sweet talk Dash around to the idea of helping out."

"How's that going for her?"

Tucker sniggered. "Let's just say she's... swallowing her pride a little." He said, gesturing through the door and towards Danny's sister who currently found herself with the blonde jock's arm draped around her shoulders whilst she tried to fend off his constant attempts at kissing her.

"Oh gag!" Danny exclaimed, not liking the thought of Dash and Jazz together. Johnny and Jazz were bad enough! Actually, it might have just been the thought of his sister getting intimate with anyone that made him want to puke his breakfast.

"Look out Danny. You might have to start calling Dash brother soon if you're not careful." Sam teased, sensing her friend's obvious discomfort.

Danny groaned and decided to change the subject. "So Tuck, how'd it go with Mikey and Nathan?"

"Could have gone better. They're a little scared off doing anything even slightly rebellious but I think they came around to the idea when I said their parents could die if they didn't help."

Sam smiled and punched his arm in a friendly manner. "Aw, resorting to threats now, eh?"

Tucker rolled his eyes. "Well, you're obviously rubbing off." He turned towards Danny who was rubbing his head. "How you holding up Danny?"

Suddenly realising what he was doing, Danny brought his hand down. "Oh, fine. Weird I guess. Like warmer."

"More human." Sam said as she put a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I suppose." He stifled a giggle. "I guess I forgot what that feels like. It's different."

"Different? You were human for 14 years."

"You're still half human." Tucker pointed out.

Danny smiled. "Probably about three quarters now – ow!"

The halfa grabbed his arm at being punched by Sam. "Not funny."

Danny and Tucker exchanged a mutual look of agreement. It was funn-

A huge storage crate suddenly fell in the corner of the room, effectively capturing the teens' attention... and more importantly exactly what had caused the crate to fall. There, behind it, was the mech ghost they all knew and hated, splayed on the floor after unsuccessfully trying to move into a slightly comfier position to spy.

"Skulker?!" The three exclaimed.

"Ghost child..." The ghost spoke hoarsely as he grabbed for the front of Danny's shirt.

Danny took a step back, leaving Skulker's hand the fall limply by his side. "Skulker? Wha- Why are you here?!"

"Hunting you."

Tucker stifled a giggle. "So um... how's that going?"

Skulker growled but it soon turned into a hacking cough. What was more worrying though was the green substance that was coughed up.

Danny shook himself. "Um.. I think you're dying."

Skulker looked sharply upwards. "I am not dying today."

The trio looked at each other, all wondering what in the world to say at this point... that is until Sam suddenly realised something.

"Wait... how are you even still conscious at the moment?! The forcefield..."

"You can't exist!" Tucker blurted out.

"I am hardly a figment of your imagination boy... And I'll have you know my suit is more than just a fashion accessory." Skulker asserted in the most fearsome voice he could muster... which unfortunately wasn't much more than a squeak.

"Your suit? That's why the forcefield isn't affecting you?" Danny prodded.

Skulker glared. "Puny human devices are no match for me... or you." He finished, indicating Danny.

"Half ghost remember... It sort of takes longer for stuff to work on me." Danny paused. "So your suit is made from some sort of anti … anti-ghost stuff?"

Skulker just glared.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Look. In case you haven't realised you're dying. Now you can either suck it up and work with us or work against us but for your sake, you should probably cooperate. I'm already trying not to murder you for spying on us."

Skulker grunted. Every instinct told him not to cooperate with the enemy but a final hacking cough seemed to make up his mind. "Plasmius owed me. The suit is designed to resist anti ghost weapons... like forcefields."

"Huh." Danny pondered suddenly remembering something. "Plasmius makes Valerie's devices... I bet that's why your suit isn't protecting you from them. No offence Skulker... but Plasmius wouldn't make you invincible to even him."

Skulker growled but didn't say anything as the hybrid continued "They'll kill you and probably me, regardless of my human half or your suit if we're assuming that's what's protecting you from the forcefield... And speaking of Valerie..." Danny quickly turned his attention to his friends, "Shouldn't she be back by now?"

Sam shrugged but before she got the chance to answer, the door burst open to reveal Jazz who promptly ran towards her brother.

"Oh gross!"

"What?!"

"Dash, he... Oh, just don't say I never do anything for you!"

Danny smirked, looking at his sister in a 'spill everything' way.

Jazz retreated about to stutter over an explanation when she noticed a very bemused yet ill looking Skulker sat in the corner behind a few storage boxes. "Skulker?!"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Duh."

"Wha- How... What's he doing here?!"

"He was hunting Danny when he got trapped within the forcefield... Apparently his suit's keeping him conscious for now."

Jazz paused before raising a hand to her chin. "Well that would make sense... Huh... This certainly complicates things."

"What? Why?!" Tucker blurted out.

"Well we can't exactly let the Guy-in-White goons find him."

"Why not?!"

"Well... They're inhuman! They'd kill him, or worse!"

"So? It's Skulker!"

"Tucker..." Danny interrupted. "I agree with Jazz. We're not handing him over, even if he wouldn't return the favour the other way around." He finished, pointing a look at a surprised Skulker.

"Fine. I still think it's a bad idea to protect your enemy though."

"Probably. But I wouldn't wish a lifetime of painful experiments on anyone... even him."

"Okay." Tucker conceded. "So, what's the plan?"

"Well... hide Skulker for a while... then..."

"Do I not get a say in this?" Skulker interrupted at hearing his fate being decided without his consent.

"Quite frankly, no. Not if you don't want us to hand you over." Sam smirked at seeing Skulker grumble something incoherent to himself and back down.

"So, as I was saying, hide Skulker whilst we convince the A listers, the nerds and the Red Huntress to help get us out of here and then... If all goes according to plan... I smuggle Skulker out, escape, save the town and be home in time for tea." Danny completed.

"And if all doesn't go according to plan?" Jazz anxiously asked.

"Then... I don't know. But hopefully it will." Danny paused before looking towards Skulker. "Say Skulker... Do you think you could move slightly further into the corner?"

Skulker narrowed his eyes but at looking at Sam and seeing her about to re enforce her warning with her boot, he did as he was asked.

"Thanks."

Once the four teens had successfully hidden him behind various tables and boxes, Danny smiled, satisfied. "Okay..."

Danny walked over to the window in the door and swallowed stiffly at seeing Valerie, Dash, Paulina, Star, Kwan, Nathan and Mikey walking over one by one. "Guess it's show time." He looked over his shoulder for reassurance from his friends who he found smiling back at him.

* * *

Dash was the first one to the kitchen but it didn't take long for the rest of the nerds and A listers to dawdle in one by one, so as to rouse as little suspicion as possible.

"Okay Fenturd. What's your plan?"

Danny took a deep breath as he looked Dash straight in the eye. "Get me out of here. I'll take care of the rest."

Dash's eyes widened along with Kwan's, Paulina's, Star's... before the whole group dissolved into giggles. "You?! What are you going to do?!"

Meanwhile, Danny stood stoically. It was almost unnerving to the popular kids who were used to him backing away from them. "I won't do anything. Danny Phantom will."

This shut the group up. "You... you know Danny Phantom?!" Paulina swooned, a longing grin spreading across her face.

Danny nodded.

"Yeah right!" Dash interrupted "How'd we know you're not lying?!"

"Yeah." Star added. "We all know he's probably out there fighting that evil ghost already anyway."

"For all we know you could just be trying to get his autograph or something." Kwan finished.

Danny felt like face palming. Get his own autograph? Seriously? How vain would that be? "He's not out there."

"How'd you know?"

"Because I..." He paused, thinking of how he could keep his secret for just that bit longer. "He told me where he is." Danny said.

"Where?!" Paulina virtually squealed, until being smothered by Sam's and Tucker's hands.

"Shut up, you idiot!" Sam hissed into her ear.

"Eww. Goth germs!" Paulina shivered as she pulled away from Sam.

"Where is he then?" Dash demanded.

Danny took a deep breath. "He..." He paused again. "Doesn't want you to know."

"Hold on a second." Dash stepped forward. "Why would Danny Phantom tell you something and not us? Why are you so special?"

"Yeah... He'd tell me above you anyway, we all know he's besotted with me." Paulina swooned.

"Fenton's clearly lying." Kwan added.

"He probably has no idea where he is!" Dash shouted, unaware that his shouts were being overheard outside.

"I-" Danny tried to interrupt, but couldn't get a word in above the chorus of A listers insisting he was a liar. Not even Sam or Tucker were having much success in distracting the four A listers from their heated conversation.

Mikey and Nathan seemed content enough to just cover their ears whilst everyone else fought it out for attention and it seemed Valerie was the only one happy enough to just sit and watch... Danny mostly. Little did she know, she was being studied herself by Jazz.

Unfortunately for the trio, they had forgotten about one very important thing whilst they were arguing. Skulker. The mech ghost had, for the most part, been true to his word and stayed in the corner, keeping quiet bar a few groans and rolls of the eyes at some of Danny's persuasion skills... or lack thereof. Though there was one thing that he couldn't have stayed quiet about. His PDA, still programmed by Tucker, had chosen this very unfortunate moment to beep and tell him it was about time to check out a book on a purple back gorilla. Try as he might, none of his attempts at destroying or overriding the infernal contraption worked and so, whilst the trio were blissfully unaware of what was about to happen, the mech ghost's jet packs started up, ready to take him to the library to fulfil his duties.

"Please!" Danny shouted. "You've got to believe me! Phantom is..." His protests were suddenly halted by a roaring noise from the corner of the room... the corner they had left Skulker in. "Skulker..." He muttered in fear as he saw everyone's eyes widen at the sound.

"Wha- what was that?" Star questioned.

"What was what?!" Danny jumped in front of the students who were slowly edging towards the noise.

"Get out of the way Danny." Valerie demanded as she instinctively took the lead.

"That noise..." Mikey answered.

"No- nothing! I didn't hear a noise... did you guys?!" Danny looked towards his friends and sister for reassurance who quickly shook their heads in response.

"No... that was definitely something." Dash insisted as he, still staying behind Valerie, continued to pursue the noise.

"No, it wasn't... it was..." Danny suddenly looked behind him as the room was engulfed in a green light, followed by a huge crash as Skulker was propelled upwards into the ceiling, though thanks to his ghost powers being zapped by Valerie's gadgets, he stayed tangible and hit the roof hard before plummeting back down to the ground with a crash.

Danny's eyes widened in fear as the mech ghost was exposed in front of the group, not forgetting the likeliness of that being heard from outside. "Nothing?!" He completed.

Danny, Sam, Tucker and Jazz looked hastily between the teens and the ghost, not quite sure what they were going to do now. This wasn't supposed to happen.

Star squealed. "Ghost!"

Skulker frowned at the screaming girl before turning his attention towards Danny. "Ghost child... Your PDA..." He grunted, immediately taking the blame away from himself for the unfortunate situation they found themselves in.

"Quick! We've got to hide him before those goons burst in!" Danny shouted to his friends.

Valerie meanwhile, had been trying to find a place to change into her alter ego but halted immediately at hearing the mech ghost call Danny 'ghost child.' As far as she was aware... wasn't that what the hunter called Phantom? But wouldn't that mean...? No. That was impossible. It must have just been a nickname he called all children, wasn't it? She swallowed as she tried to disregard the new signs that were hitting her in the face and slowly started to back out of the room in her mission to discreetly change into the Red Huntress. She would confront Danny later, but for now, she had a job to do.

Just as Valerie was about to push the door open to leave, the door came swinging forcefully back at her as she came face to face with several heavily armed GiW agents.

The room froze.

Star slapped a hand over her mouth as she realised her scream had just made their whole situation a whole lot worse. The blonde tried not to look at the goth who was staring bloody murder at her.

The agents parted to allow their leader through who, in turn, pinned his glare towards Danny who looked like he'd been caught with his hands in the cookie jar. The teen was currently underneath the mech's right arm with Skulker's arms draped around his shoulders as he'd been trying to heave him back to his hiding spot.

The GiW leader smiled, triumphant in his findings. "Danny Fenton. You are under arrest for aiding a ghost fugitive."

A collective gasp came from the room.

The next bit happened too quickly for many of the teens to react. No sooner had the leader spoke than Danny and Skulker found themselves in ghost proof cuffs and the rest of the room forcefully corralled into a corner at gunpoint.

The door swung forcefully open again and this time, an overweight teacher found himself confronted with the carnage of the kitchen. "Lord of the Flies!" It was then he noticed the cuffs around Danny's wrists. "Let my student go!"

"Mr Lancer." The leader rounded on the teacher. "After your student's little fainting stunt earlier, we find him in a room with a dangerous level six ectoplasmic entity draped around him talking about Danny Phantom and how he knows where this particular abomination is. I believe that's all the evidence we need to perform a formal investigation." He sneered, secure in the knowledge that the teacher could not stop him this time. "Until we can be sure he is of no danger to society, he will be placed in isolation whilst the rest of the group will be held here for interrogation. Now, if you would be so kind..." He aimed his gun towards the group, indicating for the teacher to join them.

Mr Lancer stared before begrudgingly joining his students in the corner, knowing he couldn't argue with that. It didn't mean he wouldn't fight tooth and nail against the GiW given the opportunity, but for now, he knew better than to act impulsively.

"Wait!" Sam shouted.

Sam's protest fell on deaf ears when the door closed with an echoing bang as the hybrid and ghost were forcefully pulled from the room.

* * *

**Author's Note**

... Tada? Yeah... still no reveal but it's coming... I think. Maybe. No. Okay. There will definitely be one, just I'm having way too much fun torturing Danny at the moment :D.

Oh and I'll warn you now, next update won't be for another month or so as I go on holiday in a couple of days which means no computer for 2 weeks!

So yeah... let me know what you think!


End file.
